for the defense for the defense - Voice For The Defense Online

BRAKES, SQUEAL, SMOKE, SCREAM, CRASH!!Whether it is an ambulance with emergency medicalservices (EMS) or a Life Flight team, saving the client’slife is all that matters after an accident. However, after recovery,many clients face serious criminal charges which rely onforensically unacceptable evidence. This article aims to exposea forensically unacceptable method of testing blood for alcoholperformed by hospitals through enzymatic assay testing.Before examining the problems with hospital enzymaticassay blood testing, the science and the process involved must beunderstood. Whole blood is drawn from the arm via (1) a syringeand then injected into a test tube; or (2) a Vacutainer, which allowsthe needle to draw directly into the test tube. Whole bloodis great for gas chromatography, which is usually the preferredtesting method in forensic laboratories. 1 However, if a hospitaltests your blood for alcohol, it is normally not for prosecution,but rather to determine any reactions with necessary medicineor procedures. The hospital only provides the District Attorney’soffice with the blood alcohol results pursuant to a subpoena.In hospital enzymatic assay blood testing, the test tube doesnot contain sodium fluoride (preservative) or potassium oxalate(anti-coagulant) required in the grey-topped test tubes usedin forensic samples. 2 The test tube only contains your client’swhole blood. Hospitals do not test whole blood for alcohol usingenzymatic assay testing. 3 Only plasma or serum is used. 4 Inorder to obtain plasma or serum, the test tube is centrifugedto separate the plasma or serum from the cellular material. 5 Acentrifuge spins a test tube at an angle at a high rate of speedso that all the cellular material collects at the bottom of thetube and the plasma is left at the top. 6 The plasma appears asa viscous, yellowish liquid at the top of the tube. 7 Serum is thewhole blood without the cellular material or the clotting element.8 Serum appears as a clearer, yellow liquid that surfacesabove the clotted, red, cellular material. 9 Serum is rarely usedbecause the whole blood must be allowed to stand and clot beforebeing centrifuged. 10 Time being a luxury when the client hasserious injuries, the hospital usually prefers plasma over serumto avoid waiting for the blood to clot. 11In more detail, a deproteinizing agent, Trichloroacetic